By Jacky Hill
There’s a universal saying that “time is money”. So when you are managing your digital marketing efforts, your time is being diverted from other important tasks. Trying to keep up with Google’s ever-changing practices, for example, can be a major headache in itself.
What is digital (Internet) marketing? It includes a few elements – pay per click (PPC), cost per click or search engine marketing (SEM). These terms all refer to when a business typically buys a keyword phrase relevant to their product, service or target market, such as “homes for sale in Toronto”. This keyword phrase then appears on search engine results pages (Google, Yahoo or Bing) and the business is charged when the ad is clicked on. This is a short-term approach, ideal for advertising current or immediate listings.
Digital marketing also includes search engine optimization (SEO), which is the process of getting your website and name higher up in a search result. This is referred to as natural or organic search results, since home and condo buyers will likely type in keyword phrases and the most popular sites will be shown in the organic results section, below any PPC ad. In general, the closer your website is to the top of a results page and to page 1, the greater the chance you’ll get that website traffic. This is a long-term approach, ideal for advertising future listings and properties or continuing to build credibility and website traffic.
Think of PPC and SEO as your digital for sale or sold sign. Best practice is to keep a sign on or close to a property at all times while it’s on the market and even once a sale has gone through. Your digital for sale and sold sign can do the same thing and can also attract clients outside of your local area.
Why should you use PPC and SEO in your digital marketing campaign?
When planning a PPC or SEO campaign there are three points to keep in mind.
1. Number of resources needed: keyword research, bid management, landing pages, text ad conversion and more. Various tools (free, paid and custom) have been developed and will continue to develop to improve the PPC management process.
2. Use an experienced partner. A digital marketing expert knows how to get your company the visibility you need so your potential home or condo buyers can find you when searching online. The landscape and requirements of PPC and SEO marketing are continually evolving. Google and other search engines frequently make changes to their search criteria and results pages, making a PPC and SEO campaign a dynamic and evolving task. Your competition may also change or modify how they manage their online campaigns, which means you may need to adapt accordingly.
Keep in mind that Yahoo and Bing are also popular search engines and may be more economical to invest in. Using a partner that’s certified with all three search engines only increases the likelihood of your campaign success. For SEO purposes, proper back linking, social bookmarking, on-site changes and more all need to be considered for maximum benefit.
3. Total cost. If not managed properly, the cost could soar quite high. The options are to have a PPC or SEO expert in-house or partner with a digital marketing expert. The starting annual rate for a PPC professional is approximately $50,000 plus benefits, bonuses, future pay increases and on-going training. This could easily accumulate to $60-65K a year. Alternatively, a digital marketing expert could result in a much smaller investment – it’s important to research and choose a partner that’s best for you. Usually the more experience one has in your industry and sector, the better the results you can expect, as keywords and other elements of a campaign have already been researched and invested in. Also, incorporating keyword phrases in web copy is essential and if done incorrectly could result in lost resources or even worse, a lower search results ranking.
Internet marketing could be a huge revenue generator, but if not planned and executed properly, it could also be very costly. Partnering with a local company that offers a variety of expert marketing solutions including online, mobile, print, social, search engines and more can help boost your sales fulfillment and save you time, money and headaches.
Jacky Hill has more than 21 years of experience in real estate and media and is responsible for managing and leading Wall2Wall Media’s corporate strategy, go-to-market products, brand strategy, change management and mentoring senior management. She has served on the board of directors for two consecutive terms for two home-building industry associations and is a past sales & marketing chair with GTHBA (now BILD). She has been recognized in the real estate industry with several awards. www.wall2wallmedia.com.
